Painful Glory
by dreambig57
Summary: Alexis and Riley Dawes, sisters, and elite athletes, suffer just trying to make it big. With the help of Payson Keeler, now crippled Olympic Champion, they surpass obtacles and succeed in the cut-throat world of professional sports.
1. Chapter 1

Although her body is still petite and tight, with more muscle strength than you could imagine on a 13 year old girl, she stares at the mirror with such sorrow that you'd be expecting her to be looking at the devil's reflection. Yes, she gained 11 pounds on her time off with the knee injury, but you can't call Alexis Dawes fat. You can't even call her skinny. Emaciated is the correct word.

She sighs one last time before turning away, and pulls a shiny purple leotard through her legs and fastens the back, and then zips up the track jacket that she had since she was 8: A pink jacket with a butterfly on the left-hand hip and beautifully designed flames up the arms. Anyone else that would attempt to make such a strange combination would fail miserably, but it worked perfectly for Alexis. She walked out the door, three blocks down, and into the gym.

The walls are plastered with pictures of Nastia Liukin, Payson Keeler, Shawn Johnson, Kaylie Cruz and Emily Kmetko. The world's greatest, before they grew up, grew boobs, and couldn't participate in the sport that fully demands a 7 year-old-boy's body. Alexis self consciously takes her jacket off and carefully folds it into her bag, and sprays her body down with some water, and starts stretching with the other girls, trying to ignore the fact that everyone is staring: some because of the fact that they get to train with the world's greatest—Alexis Dawes, some because of the weight she had gained, and some surprised to see her back at the gym after her brutal accident.

_Alexis felt the pain in her knee jolt up the rest of her body like a painful current, and slowly subside, each time she lifted her knee of the ground it happened, but she didn't stop running. She couldn't. "Lex, Maybe you should cool down for a bit, you look pooped." When coach said that, it means you looked like you were passed out, and that he didn't want to get in trouble with the _stupid American parents. _Alexis only shook her head and continued running. And running. And running. And then, all of a sudden, her knee locked. She wasn't in pain, it just wouldn't move. Alexis looked at her knee, expecting it to start moving again like it always would, but it didn't this time, and Alexis was desperate to keep this injury a secret. She jerked her knee forward, and heard an evil cracking noise, followed by such pain that she collapsed to the ground, writhing and screaming._

The girls still stared at her as she fully extended her injured knee up and over her head, and did the splits. It was actually good though, when Payson put all of the girls over to the bars and beam, and told Alexis to go run. But right before Alexis finished the walk of shame out the door, she called her over again.

"Listen," she said abruptly as she grasped a bit harshly at Alexis's shoulder, "I know what you're feeling right now." All Alexis wanted to do was burst into tears. She wanted to yell and scream at Payson and tell her that it was not true, and that she just wanted to go home and never come back to the gym again, but she knew that it was true, and she knew that the last thing she wanted to do was quit the sport.

"Ok, great. Just don't push too hard, because you don't want to end up like me." Alexis lowered her head shamefully, and took a peak at Payson's wheelchair. It wasn't permanent like Seth's wheelchair, but lately she needed it more than not. When Payson realized that Alexis was staring, she patted her on the back, gave her a mere push, and said: "I won the Olympic Gold already. I'm the happiest girl alive."

Riley Dawes made her way up the last hill for the day. Her legs were so tired they felt like jelly, and her arms were aching from the side-to-side movement she knew so well. The bike under her felt as if she was lugging 3 tons of rocks, but regardless she finished the climb at a respectable time. Riley unclicked her feet from the pedals at the top, and rested her head on her handlebars. She could lay like that forever, just looking out at Boulder: the only place in the US that could make her such a good cyclist. But time showed that Riley could only stay in that position for another minute, because Alexis would be finishing at the gym in an hour, and Riley still had to shower and eat something before her body started eating her insides as an afternoon snack. So Riley headed back down into Boulder, and was home within 15 minutes. She slung her bike over one shoulder, took her shoes off and stuck them in her left hand, and walked into the house. Riley's mom was making lunch, and Seth was on his computer, typing up yet another ingenious training plan that would give Riley another national championship title, or get her to the world championships.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey champ, how was it?" Seth asked Riley as soon as she set her shoes on the table, to this her mom gave her a look, but then shrugged and took them off. Riley unzipped her shirt pulled off the sweaty thing. She didn't mind Seth or Mom seeing her in a bra, as long it was a sports bra.

"It was fine, nothing spectac. I Did 16:07 on Alexanderion, and 11:45 on Bellington." Seth typed it up into the laptop, and rolled his wheelchair to the fridge to get some juice.

"Go shower, and then eat. I want to try a new post-workout drink with you." Riley nodded, gave a slight moan, and headed to the shower. She hated all the concoctions Seth would try with her, 97% of the time they would make her feel like vomiting, 2% of the time they would actually make her vomit, and 1% of the time they would be affective. Although he was a great coach, he wasn't much of a chef, since he was only thinking of nutritional value and not of the flavor.

Riley was out the door a few minutes later with a bright purple liquid in her hand. It was only a 10 minute walk to the gym, and she still had half-an-hour until Alexis would be done, but she didn't want to hang around the house. She hadn't spoken to Payson in almost a week, and she needed her dose of Inspiration. Not that Seth wasn't amazing, but he always expected things just to be done. When he was a competitive bike racer, that was the way it was, and now, he wanted Riley to be trained exactly the same. But Riley felt the pressure just like any other girl in her category, although she could beat them even if she was woken up at 2 A.M. to race them. She struggled to stay skinny, to work out even when she just wanted to sleep, to go to sleep even when she wanted to hang out, and to be disciplined, disciplined, disciplined. Seth didn't understand Riley's hardships, but Payson did.

The gym was empty, as expected, except Alexis and Payson, and one of the conditioning coaches, who was just leaving. Payson's sweet but stern voice echoed through the gym as she explained a new move to Alexis. Since Alexis's knee wasn't in the best of conditions, and the Pacific Rim Cup was a month away, she had to learn a new vault, that wouldn't cause further damage to the knee. Riley thought the vault was just as bad: running at full speed to the vault, cart wheeling a few feet away from the springboard, slamming her fists into the horse, then flipping over twice with her chest held tightly to her knees, and somehow releasing just in time, so she could land on the mats.

"Ok, do 5 or six more, and then we'll call it a day. If you start hurting too much, call me over." Payson told Alexis as she rubbed her knees and pulled leg warmers on. It was way passed gym hours and the heaters had been off for awhile. Alexis waved quickly at her older sister and got back to work.

Riley only noticed how exhausted she was when she saw the heap of mats in the corner of the room—she usually sat on them with Payson when she came to watch Alexis, and slept on them some times after hard training sessions.  
>"Right, but before you fall asleep, help me up," Payson chuckled as she saw Riley's desperate face. As Riley helped Payson out of the wheelchair, and into a comfortable position on the mats, she thought about how much Payson had improved. A few months ago, when the doctors first recommended the wheelchair, she refused to use it, and when she finally gave in, she refused help getting in and out of it. Now she would ask Riley for help.<br>"I don't know if I should let her compete this season." Was the first thing that slipped Payson's mouth. Riley didn't respond at first, eying the little girl that could do things that weren't human. She was flying. But something was off: Her face wasn't cheerful as it used to be in the gym, numerous parts of her body were wrapped, bruised or iced regularly, and she was a lot weaker than last year.  
>"I don't know Pay, whatever floats your boat. She's my little sister, it's hard for me to watch her do this to herself, but you know, I'm not one to talk." Riley reminded herself of the multiple crashes she has, causing ugly scars on her knees, elbows and hips, of the grueling training she went through every day, and the mental struggle she pushed through every second of the day.<br>"Well, I'll think of it for a bit, and I'll call her in the evening. What's going down with the World Champs? They have to take you. If they don't I'll come and murder them one by one." Riley chuckled, but her insides churned. The cycling committee wasn't ever planning on taking a girls squad out, but now with Seth's new "renegade" team, everyone was hoping for a change. He took Riley and another 3 great riders from the Country, and in a month they would start touring Europe, and doing this would hopefully impress the committee enough to create a national team for the girls. So far, Riley only knew one of the girls, and that's because she was her best friend.  
>"You know Seth, he just never gives up," Riley didn't really want to talk about cycling, because lately it was becoming more of a chore than anything. They sat in the silent for a few more minutes, until suddenly they heard the sickly sound of a body hitting the mats—hard. Riley's first instinct was to run to her sister, but she held back and waited for a sign. Alexis was laying flat on the mat, taking deep breaths. Payson and Riley watched her stomach move up and down—up and down. Finally, she sat up, and then stood, and Riley let out the breath she was holding in.<br>"Hold it there, sister," Payson said when Alexis went back to do another vault, "something isn't right"  
>They three of them knew it too. Alexis wasn't one to land a vault on her back; her reflexes and instincts were too sharp. She wiped her brow and walked over to Payson, who was getting off of the mats, with the determined face she had on when she was in pain. When she was standing, she checked different points on Alexis's body by twisted and prodding them.<br>"Lex, you can't compete in the Pacific Rim. I don't want you to take a chance like that." But Alexis didn't know what "chances" there were. She wanted to finally win the world championships, after 2 years of being injured. She had only technically been the best in the world because of her victories in other competitions, but the actual title of "world champion" was really important to Alexis, and the only way the National Committee would choose her would be if she competed in the Pacific Rim, regardless of her abilities.  
>"Are you kidding? I can't take the chance of missing the meet! I don't want this to be another <em>you. <em>I don't want to have to be chasing that spot on the team when it _belongs _to me." Alexis screamed, and her voice echoed the room, making the dramatic moment even more dramatic, and then angrily stomped over to her locker, pulled her bag out, and exited the gym, leaving Riley and Payson alone.


	3. Chapter 3

Payson knew better than to follow her, but Riley didn't, and it turned into a fierce battle of "two-sisters-that-can-both-run-really-fast". They raced each other through the streets of Boulder, until it turned into a game, and it ended with the two of them lying in the grass, giggling. When the giggling subsided, Alexis burst into tears.  
>"She can't do this to me! It's my last year in the juniors." She said, and curled up into a ball, and hopped into Riley's lap. Riley unbraided her long, brown hair and let the now-curly strands cover her small face.<br>"I know, Lex, listen, you need to trust Payson. She made it onto the team without competing in the Pacific Rim. Twice. And I'll let you in on something—you are a helluva-lot better than Payson ever was. Everyone knows it, even Payson." Alexis wiped her teary eyes, sniffled, and gave Riley a huge hug. Although Alexis wasn't sure about it all, she liked the peaceful moments when she wasn't in the gym. The two girls sat on the grass silently for half an hour, just breathing and forgetting about the busy year they had ahead of them.  
>"don't worry Riley, Seth is going to get you girls to the world championships, I can feel it in my bones."<br>Alexis broke the silence, but in sent Riley off her butt and halfway down the street. She had totally forgotten that the other members of Seth's team were waiting at her house, as she spent her jolly good time in the park.

The two girls got home 3 minutes later, gasping for breath, and laughing.  
>"Nice of you to join us, Riley. I hope you enjoyed your 5 hours with Payson!" She looked at her watch, and then at the 3 girls in her living room. Mara Franklin, her best friend, and also national champion runner up, Nicole Grace, 4th place in the country and also known as BITCH, and Jessica Laurel, 5th place in the country, and no one knew anything about her. Those girls were sitting in her living room, drinking tea and chatting as if they had known for ages. Riley sat next to Mara—they hadn't seen each other for awhile, since she had been in Kentucky to visit her Dad (her parents had a nasty divorce). Without further commenting, Seth continued his speech:<p>

"Girls, I brought you here on a mission. Now I know you all think that I brought you here because I want Riley to succeed, but that's only partially true—because I want all of you to succeed. From this moment on, we are a team. All for one, and one for all; no ego, nothing of the sort, because we are here to get you guys on a world championship team this year, and for further years. " He took a sip of his coffee and opened his laptop. "the game plan goes something like this: In march we go to Italy for 2 weeks, to learn what a European peloton is like. Once we get back, there is the National tour, from which the committee is creating the roots for the world championship team. You guys are going to kick butt so hard at that race that they're going to have to change their mind about not having a girls team." Everyone squealed at the idea, but Riley knew better. It was going to be a tough year. Training would be so hard that they would be too sick afterwards to have fun, even though the idea of living together was "cute" and all. "And then, in April we are going to have 1 week of rest, and then it'll be off to some world cup events, and an international tour; when we come back—nationals, and then too, you are going to kick butt. By then, you'll hopefully accumulated some attention from the Europeans and gotten strong enough that they can't refuse."

It all seemed so simple, the way Seth just said it like that. But Riley had an unsettling feeling. The girls all seemed so giddy, and so excited, but all Riley felt was sick. She clutched her stomach, ran to the bathroom, and before she could get the door shut she vomited into the toilet bowl, Seth's hard work at making her a recovery drink down the drain—literally. She bent on her knees, threw up a bit more, and then dropped the top of the toilet seat and rested her head on it. She could vaguely hear Seth saying "Leave her alone, she's a bit sick," but she ignored it. He wasn't lying. She was sick: she was sick of the hard work she put in that got her nowhere. Nicole, Jessie, and even Mara worked hard, but no one worked nearly hard as Riley, and it was no secret. Thinking about it just made her heave so she just rested her head.

Alexis poured a cup of water for her sister and headed to the bathroom, to find her sister fast asleep with her head rested on the toilet seat.


	4. Chapter 4

Alexis got to the gym by herself the next morning, letting Riley sleep in a bit. She still was in a bad mood, but seeing that her older sister was having issues too motivated her to push through. Payson had no doubt that Alexis would be strutting into the gym the next morning as well, so the mats by the vault were ready for her to start work as soon as she was stretched.  
>"Keep your sweats on, it's freezing in here," Payson wasn't in her wheelchair this morning, but Alexis knew her pain all too well. Beads of sweat rolled down her temples and to her chin just from standing, and it meant that there would be less physical support from Payson today. Sure enough, she heard Marty's car pull in the driveway a few minutes into stretching. She tried minding her own business but couldn't help but chuckle when she heard Marty's first few words.<br>"Oh man Pay, do me a favor and sit down. It hurts me to watch." Alexis kept focused, as much as she could as she listened into the conversation:  
>"So, what's going on with the surgery?" Marty asked, Alexis slid into a perfect split and reached out as far as she could.<br>"I want to do it. Dad and Mom are skeptical. I tell them, how can anything get worse? You know, at least if I'm paralyzed I won't feel anything." Alexis slowly got up, and winced as the familiar pain shot through her back.  
>"You know what Pay? I think you should do it too. I trust that doctor, she got you well enough to win the Olympics, I think she is capable of helping you walk without experiencing pain like this. But, I respect your parents too much to disagree with them. They have a point." Alexis got up, and did some jump-roping to keep her muscles warm as Marty made himself a coffee. When she tripped over the rope, Payson chuckled a bit.<br>"So, what do you think? Surgery or no?" When Alexis tried to fake a confused look, Payson rolled her eyes, "come on Lex, I know you were listening." Alexis felt like a boxer when she had to think of a good answer while she was jumping rope, except this wasn't a mathematical equation—it was real life, and if she said the wrong thing, it could really hurt Payson.  
>"I don't know Payson. It's a Paradox."<p>

Riley woke up, a bit confused, but once she remembered about her episode yesterday she tried to find her new teammates. When she finally got out of bed and walked to the kitchen, she found her mom cutting a large amount of veggies.  
>"Hey sweetie, How are you feeling? Seth told me you were sick." Riley shook her head and sat on a chair. "But then, when he told me that you threw up, I knew you weren't. You aren't a puker, and trust me on this one, because Seth was a big one. He would come back from practice and practically every time he would vomit his heart out, or had done that while riding." Riley poked at a bowl of oatmeal, and took a few bites. "What's bothering you?"<p>

Riley searched her mind; a lot of things were bothering her: the fact that for the next year she would have another 3 girls living in her house, or at least in her neighborhood; the fact that Alexis was injured; her life was just a jumble of bothersome things.  
>"Mom, I'm scared. Seth worked so hard to work this out. He has a whole game plan. And he expects it to work. But what if I fail? I mean what if I get to Europe and can't keep up with the girls there? What if I don't get much stronger this year and the other three do, and I'm the one left behind? What if I finally do get to the world championships, after this whole mess, and decide that it's too much?"<p>

Riley knew that her mom didn't have an answer. The reason it bothered her so much was because there wasn't one. But she stroked her hair and wiped her tears, and when Riley decided to meet the rest of the group on their first ride together, she helped her unhook her bike from the rack in the garage and gave her a chocolate chip cookie for the road.

"Wow, Alexis, your vaults are looking very clean today," Payson commented, "when I called Marty I told him you were struggling yesterday, and he quickly drove into Boulder to check in on you." Alexis reached backwards to stretch out her back, and walked to the end of the runway again to do the vault—again.

"no, no, they _are _clean, but something is missing." Marty noted as he filmed the last part of the vault, and then watched it in slow motion for clarification. "First of all, your toes aren't pointed. What, are you three years old again? And, here, at the second flip, you're fiddling with your back." Alexis looked down and strained her face muscles a bit to keep a straight face. "What's hurting? Now tell me or I'll figure it out the hard way."

The hard way meant putting Alexis through hours of drills until he saw a wince on her face, then he'd know what was hurting.

"My back, my knees. It's nothing. Riley's sick, I think I'm catching something, it's just some fever soreness." Marty pressed his fingers to Alexis's forehead.

"No fever," he said and examined Alexis for one last time, "fine, do the vault again."

Riley caught up with the girls just in time for the climbing. "Climb for 5 minutes, turn around and scale the climb for 1 minute, and then turn around again and start climbing for 5 minutes until you get to the top. Twice." It was what Seth liked to phrase as "torture, Seth style".

"oh, and there's a catch. I'll start you each with 30 second intervals, and you'll have to catch the rider in front of you. Riley, you only do it once since you're sick," Riley watched the other girls start the climbing, and then she turned to Seth.

"I'm not sick…You know I wasn't. Now let me do the full ride." She stood up to her brother quite often, but not when it came to cycling. When Seth was coach, he coached, and when Seth was a brother, he was a brother. Now he was a coach, and Riley never told him what she thought—mainly because Seth was a genius when it came to cycling, but also because there was no point.

Seth let the rest of the girls go, and then made Riley sit down next to him. "I know you weren't sick. I know this is a rough time for you, especially with all the girls in the house and missing the World Championships last week, but I also think that you need a little break. You've worked your ass off for the past year, and you need to take it down a notch for a week or so, just so you can rejuvenate. Besides the fact that you lost a shitload of electrolytes from puking last night, so just do it once, easy pace, and by next week you'll be back at normal pace, and the girls will already be settled in their new homes."

Riley headed up the hill, caught up with Mara, and easily pedaled the way to the top with her best friend.


	5. Chapter 5

"Oh yeah, and Kyle? He's so hot! Sucks that he has a girlfriend already." Alexis yawned as she listened to the ongoing conversations about Kyle, the new gym hotshot. The girls went to have smoothies after practice, but Alexis sipped a diet soda quietly and listened. She was never much of a talker, but when it came to Kyle she really had nothing to say. He wasn't that cute—well at least not as cute as Neil.  
>"Hey Lex! What about Neil? You have such a crush on him…" Lilly giggled, and all the girls followed.<br>"That's so not true!" Alexis lied, "Kyle's cute, but Neil? The way he smiles when one of us falls on our asses after a vault? It's so…" Alexis actually found it funny, and her eyes rolled into a dreamy sort of place, but then she snapped back into reality. "…mean. It's so mean of him."  
>"Yeah, right, whatever. Well, I have to get home, so I'll see y'all tomorrow at the gym," Said Melissa, and as Alexis watched them all head off back to their homes, she walked back to the gym to get some afternoon conditioning in.<p>

"Hey, I hope you didn't drink too much smoothie because I have a helluva workout for you today." Payson said cheerily. Alexis like the outings with the Rock girls, but not the fact that she came back to the gym to do more training as they all headed home.  
>"Naa, I got a soda." Alexis told Payson, as she scanned her body.<br>"Take your coat off," Payson ordered Alexis, and she unzipped the flame-butterfly coat, "You've lost a ton of weight. How much are you at? 85 pounds?" Alexis looked down. She had, and she wasn't even realizing it.  
>"I dunno Pay, seriously…I gained 11 pounds when I was out with my knee, and I needed to lose some weight, but I haven't been tracking." Alexis knew what was coming, so she just headed to the locker room to get the scale.<p>

'Interesting…86.4 pounds, that's 5 pounds lighter than before your knee busted out. Let's just see how this works out for you, and then I'll decide what I want you to do."

They headed to the track to do some running, and Payson nervously watched from the sidelines. She called Marty.

"Marty, she's losing weight." Payson said shakily,

"Great! She was on the heavy side when she came back. What's she at? 93 pounds?" Marty sounded relatively cheery, "Because I was getting worried she really wouldn't be able to compete in the Pacific Rim. You know Marta and Bella, always checking out the lines."

"Marty, no, she's 86 pounds. I mean, it might work out for her, she's not that underweight, but I'm just nervous. She isn't obsessing, she's eating what she should be, but I'm just nervous because of—"

"Kaylie? Kaylie never had a strong mind, and you know that. Alexis is rock hard, she'll never get an eating disorder, let alone let the eating disorder ruin her career. Kaylie is in the position she's in right now because she let fear eat away at her."

Payson hung up, and looked up at the giant photograph of Kaylie posted on the side of the rock building. No one knew it, but Kaylie was in the hospital, fighting an eating disorder that was eating at her heart, liver and life. She never really recovered from the eating disorder, and only a few months after the London Olympics she collapsed in her home.

Riley and Mara got out of the car, and simultaneously looked up to the sky. It was scorching out, and a race is weather like this was no fun, even if it was going to be an easy win. They both immediately removed the sweatshirts they were wearing for the car ride and started preparing their bikes to warm up. There would be a time trial in the morning, and a road race in the afternoon, and then the next morning they would be on a plane to Italy.

As the two were in the midst of their warm up, the rest of the girls on the team arrived, and also started warming up. Since Riley was ranked the top rider in the country, she started her time trial last, so she stayed on the stationary bike as the girls headed to the starting line to get their gears checked and to start their race. Once they were all gone, except Mara, who stayed besides her, Seth came up to them.

"Listen, girls, I know this technically can be an easy win, but I don't want it to be one. I want you to open a 5 minute gap! Do something incredible!" He started, and stuck a few ice cubes under Riley's shirt so she would keep cool. "Now, In the Time trial, there are no secrets. Just ride as hard as you can and the best will win. In the afternoon, it is supposed to be hotter than now. Mara, I know you aren't much of a heat person but you are the strongest girl besides Riley when it comes to the climbs. You guys attack right off the bat, and stay alone for the whole 70 kilometers. "

Riley nodded, finished off her bottle, and headed to the starting line. "OK Riley, 30 seconds to go. Don't beat them by too much though!" One of the judges joked. Riley wasn't into jokes on the starting line, especially when they were like that. Mara had started 30 seconds before her, and she planned on catching her, catching Nicole—the girl in front of Mara, and then catching Jessica. The second the clock zero-ed off, Riley put all her force into the pedals and attacked. Within 10 seconds she could already see Mara in front of her, and proceeded to catch her.

The last mile sign came up, Riley's legs were spinning on pure will-power, and nothing else. "Come on Riley," Seth said from the car, "go all out now…" Riley felt like she was going all out, but her heart rate monitor begged to differ. Her heart was beating at 192, and she could get it up to 196 for a mile. Riley clenched her teeth, and practically hyperventilated as she tried. She looked down, shut her eyes, and just pedaled until she reached the finish line, waving her left fist in the air to show that she won the time trial, and was leading the tour by a minute and a half.


	6. Chapter 6

Alexis got home after practice, and ran straight to the kitchen. Her stomach was grumbling and felt hollow, and she was getting lightheaded.

"Hey Sweets, I made you some fish and steamed veggies…And I stuck a strawberry yogurt in the freezer for desert." Alexis spun around with the bottle of diet soda and a cup in her hand.  
>"Oh, thanks mom! I'm so hungry. Payson made me run double today. Did you speak to Riley? How's the race going?"<p>

Alexis took a plate out of the closet and took a piece of fish, and piled it with the soft carrots, zucchini, snow peas, peppers and onion, and took the yogurt out to defrost while she ate the fish.  
>"Well, of course Riley won both the races, Mara placed second in the road race and third in the time trial, and Nicole placed third in the road race and second in the time trial. Seth told me that Riley seemed in good spirits today, so at least that's good."<p>

Jennifer Dawes watched her tiny daughter devour the fish as if she hadn't seen food in her life, and chuckled. It was good to see that she was eating normally again after a month of eating nothing but egg whites and ice chips. But when she spoke of Riley she rubbed her temples—her current headache. She knew Seth was the coach—and a good one too—but Riley was constantly exhausted and low spirited, and Jennifer couldn't see her daughter return from training sessions every day looking that way. She knew her daughter deserved more, but she promised herself she wouldn't become a stage mother after what her mom had done to her. Jennifer adored and was humbled by Alexis and Riley, and she was proud of their achievements, but she only got involved with "coach stuff" when she thought there was something wrong.

"OK mom, I'll see you in a few weeks! I'm sorry we didn't have a formal goodbye and stuff, but staying here just makes so much more sense." Riley zipped up the last bag and spoke to her mom with the phone balancing in between her shoulder and her ear.  
>"Oh Little- 'Ley, I'm going to miss you so much! Don't worry though, kick some Italian butt, keep focused, but mostly have fun. And don't forget to call me every evening OK? Because I know Seth's too busy to do that." Jennifer stuck a few more yogurts in the freezer for Alexis, and packaged the leftover fish and veggies. She let out a sigh when she spotted the pile of dirty clothes that Alexis left on the steps. Just because she was an elite athlete did not mean she didn't leave a mess for her mother to clean up.<br>"Ok mom, no problem. How's Alexis doing? I spoke to Payson before and she said she's going to let her compete in the Pacific Rim, because she's improved so much." Riley put her electrolyte drink mix and energy gels in a Tupperware box and shoved them in one of the bags. She scanned the room one more time to make sure she didn't forget anything, and then hopped into bed next to Jessica—Mara preferred the single bed, and Riley didn't care, as long as she had a bed.  
>"Oh, yeah! You should have seen her today! She ate fish and steamed vegetables and even ate a yogurt for desert. I haven't seen her eat like that for the longest time. She seems great. OK Little-'Ley, I need to get going, It's late and I still need to finish up this paper."<br>"Ok Mom, that's great. I love you."

"I love you Little-'Ley."

Alexis crawled out of bed and quickly pulled on her bathrobe and slippers. It was Sunday, so she wasn't supposed to be going to the gym, but she was awake because a race Riley was participating in was going to be aired on live television. She slid down Seth's ramp like always and jumped onto the couch, where she curled up into a ball and turned the TV on low.  
>"And Welcome back to the Magglio Rosa race in Italy. The 'student girls' category is getting ready to start their race, just giving a little respect to the Italian National champion on the starting line, and then the girls will head off."<p>

Alexis spotted the 4 girls in the crowd of girls, in their red-white and blue kits it was pretty hard to miss.  
>"And one more surprise for the 5th race in the 10 race series, Riley Dawes, Mara Franklin, Nicole Grace and Jessica Laurel have flown in from the United States to compete. These girls are the top cyclists of their age in America, but are they good enough to compete against Europe's finest? We will see, after the break." Alexis muted the television during the commercials, and stretched her back out. The pain disappeared for a few seconds, but returned as soon as she sat back down on the couch. The program returned to the bunch of girls scaling down a steep mountain, but only Nicole and Riley were in sight.<br>"Is that the race? I see Little-'Ley! She's in the front!" Alexis looked at her mom, and cracked up. Everyone knew that being in the front didn't mean anything. The main group of girls could catch her in a few seconds, and she would be swallowed up by the ocean of 16 year old monsters. They showed a close up of Riley's face, and Alexis knew that it wouldn't be long until her prophecy came true.

Riley's breath was heavy, and as she looked down she saw that her wheel was getting farther away from the rider in front of her, and as she looked behind her she saw a wall of riders, ready to swallow her up. She looked up desperately to see that the 3 girls she had attacked with were only getting farther away, and the peloton—the main group of riders—was catching her as fast as a train would catch a turtle.  
>"Ok Riley, It's fine, just stick with the pack and finish it off," she heard Seth say in the earpiece. "Mara got caught by the broom-truck, and so did Jessica. It's only you and Nicole left in the pack, and it looks like Nicole is fading a bit. Give her half of your power-bar and a pat on the back."<p>

Riley was shocked to hear that Mara got cut by the broom-truck. The broom truck was a dirty old car that followed the race, but any rider that was passed by the broom truck was disqualified from the race, and had to remove their number, and return to their home base on their own. Mara could beat Nicole in a heartbeat. What was going on?

Another 50 kilometers passed until things got really aggressive. The girls pushed and elbowed at Riley, and yelled apparently obnoxious things in Italian and German and Dutch. Riley was used to being the aggressive one, not the one that got picked on. A motorcar passed by the peloton and held up a white-board that had the number 2 written on it. That meant there were 2 kilometers left. That second, two girls shot out from behind, and the pack, trying to close them down, doubled its pace. Riley shot out of her seat and followed, but her legs were exhausted. The girls that were cursing her just a few seconds ago were dropping like flies, and Riley was barely hanging on to the back of the pack.  
>"Come on Riley, finish with them, finish with them. Get closer to the front." Riley came from around and tried to push herself into a place closer to the front, but the girls wouldn't budge—even from an elbow in the ribs. Riley dropped back and proceeded to sit on the back wheel, but at the 500 yard mark the girls all got up for a sprint finish, and she bonked. She just stopped pedaling, letting 4 or 5 riders beat her to the line, and rolled her bike to the team car.<p>

Mara and Jessica were sitting in the car, along with Seth and David—Seth's assistant. Nicole finished a few minutes later, and rolled over to the car as well.  
>"Ok girls, what do you think you learned from today's race?" Seth smiled, and looked around at the girls. They all seemed out of it and ready to sleep.<br>"Uh…We have a lot of work to do," Jessica said after a long, awkward silence.  
>"Yeah, you do. Now everyone put on your sweats, eat your protein and start stretching. You only have 20 hours until tomorrow's race." Riley stuck her hand into her bag and pulled out a bar and her sweatpants, and took off her front and back wheels from the bike, and started putting her bike into the car.<br>"Oh, no no no no no….You're riding home. I have to show you something."

No one's legs were up for riding the 10 miles back to the apartment they were renting out, but there was no saying no.  
>"You girls all have 5 minutes, get your cleats on, fill up your bottles and hop on the bike."<br>****

Alexis made her way up the hill for the third time, her stomach flipping and the taste of bile in her throat. She felt the hot sun beat down on her shoulders, and the slight pain in her knee.  
><em>Ok Lex, <em>She told herself, _Just to the top of the hill and then you can walk your way to the gym. _

She put out a bit more effort until she got to the top of the hill, her legs giving out from under her, and she sprawled on the ground. She shut her eyes for a few moments, let the big wave of dizziness pass, and then she got up and headed back to the gym complex, where Payson was waiting for her so they could perfect her triple axel on the floor before the big meet the next day.  
>As she opened the back door to the gym, and pulled open her locker to take a huge sip of Gatorade, she inhaled the artificially cool air and let the fans wick away the sweat on her arms and forehead. Her stomach was still uneasy from the hard work on the run, nevertheless, she quickly changed clothing and opened the door to the main gym to find Payson and Marty working with Sabine Newton, the other elite gymnast at the gym. Although she was far from Alexis' level, Sabine had made huge progress on her floor event and was going into the Pacific Rim with a high qualifying score.<br>"OK Sabine, your knees need to be straight here. These are the little things that separate you from the champions. You can do everything they can, but you just need to stop being so sloppy." Marty said. Payson approached Alexis and put a hand on her back.  
>"I know we need to start working on your floor events, but did you speak to Riley? How is she doing?" Alexis knew that Payson had a soft spot for Riley, and knew that if Riley was a gymnast, <em>she <em>would be the favorite in the gym, but Alexis didn't mind it.

"Oh, yeah, she didn't do very well in the race, but Seth had a good talk with them, and made the girls realize that it wasn't fun and games anymore. One of the girls even flew back home last night, because she realized that this isn't what she wants to be spending her time on." Alexis recited what Seth told her over the phone, since when she called Riley was "visualizing" and couldn't speak with anyone.  
>"Wow, really? Who went home? I watched the race on TV, but I wasn't really sure how the girls did. I just don't understand cycling. Ok, how was your run? I hope you didn't kill yourself, because you don't want to waste too much energy before tomorrow's competition."<p>

Alexis' heart was still beating at a crazy rate, her breakfast had made itself half way up her esophagus, and sweat was pouring off her neck.  
>"No, not too hard. You know,-" Alexis gagged over the egg whites that were now in her throat, and covered her mouth quickly. "The usual,"<br>"Lex, this isn't ok. You aren't a cyclist or a marathon runner, you're a gymnast. You don't need to have an aerobic capacity of a horse. You don't need to run yourself until you puke, especially on a day before a meet. Riley? She can do that every day for all I care, but you need to make sure you keep your muscles intact, your electrolytes in check, and your mind in place. No more of this baloney or I'll start following you on your runs with my wheelchair." Alexis lifted her head from the shame just in time for Sabine to walk out of the gym, and Marty to crack a joke.  
>"Is this a threat coming from Payson? I would watch out." Alexis rolled her eyes and swallowed hard.<br>"Go take 5 before you puke on my mats and come back with enough energy to do 4 floor routines."

Alexis went back to the locker rooms and took a big gulp of water from the fountain, and then relaxed a bit on one of the benches. She knew that Payson was right, but she needed that hour every few days to let herself work hard without having to worry about pointed toes or good form.

"And here are the results after the first round: Alexis Dawes is in first place with 16.525 points, and right behind her is Aliya Semenov with 16.25."  
>Riley was curled up on the couch in front of the television set, with Mara on her hip and Nicole on the floor, chewing on plain pasta.<br>As the competition progressed, and Riley saw all of Alexis' competitors, she knew that Alexis had it in the bag, since her worst event was the floor, and she was in the lead after the floor event anyways. Her next event was the bars, and the television crew was filming her wrap her hands appropriately.  
>"Next up, Alexis Dawes on the Bars. This is Dawes' third event, and all she needs to win the competition at this point is two clean routines—now on the bar and next on the vault."<br>Alexis walked up on the stage and extended her arms by her ears. The crowd roared, and then she let her arms down, gave a little nod like she always did, and jumped up onto the low bar. She pulled her body forward and up, and stood on the low bar, and made a jump to the high bar. Then, she started rolling around the bar, her arms perfectly straight, and her legs tight together. _Perfect lines, _Riley thought to herself.  
>"Wow, perfect lines," Riley gave a grin, "This event is Alexis' best event, and you can sure see it by the way she moves. So smooth."<br>After 5 rounds around the high bar, when Alexis' legs were perfectly aligned with the light fixture, she let go, did a half flip in the air and caught the bar facing the low bar, and immediately after that let go again, head-first to the low bar, and caught. Then, with one swift movement, she shot herself back up again, rounded up for the big finish, and let go, made three flips in the air with her legs pressed against her face, and landed perfectly.  
>"Perfect Routine by Dawes. Unless there is a disaster, she has this one in the bag."<br>"Yeah, Well Riley, sorry to burst your bubble but this sucks. I'm going to bed." Nicole put her bowl in the sink and headed to the bedroom they shared.  
>"Well isn't she just a ray of sunshine," Riley giggled. Mara didn't join her. She was frustrated from the race, and didn't want to talk about anything with anyone. She just stared at the TV blankly with glazed eyes.<p>

The girls watched the competition for another thirty minutes until Seth interrupted.  
>"Franklin, I want to speak with you, come to the hallway." Riley watched Mara sluggishly get off the couch and head out to the hallway, and then moved her eyes back to the television set, where the girls were lining up for the last events—the vault. Riley was at the back of the line, stretching out her back. Alexis had a mean vault, but it had a lot of impact on her back, so she had to downgrade—even with the downgrade her score was considerably high.<p>

Riley watched the girls run down the mats, one by one, and do spectacular flips through the air, and listened to the commentators talk about leotards, flips and Nastia Liukin's new line of jeans.  
>"Alexis Dawes, the current leader of the completion up next on the vault. She has almost a point's lead, so she just needs to keep this one clean."<p>

Alexis walked up to the mat, got on her tip-toes and saluted to the judges. She started running, but one of the judges raised a white flag, so she turned around and went back to the start. False start.

"Yeah, but Mara, you didn't even keep up for more than 10 kilometers! You can ride faster than that! That's why I had you ride home behind the car. You rode at 35 miles per hour the whole way home—that's a lot faster than today's race." Seth was starting to yell in the hallways.  
>"False start for Alexis Dawes, but no worries, this girl has a mind of steel." Alexis stretched one more time and waited for the red flag to be waved, signaling she could start her vault.<br>"My mind wasn't in place, I'm sorry Seth, it's my first race. You can't expect me to be all perfect like your sister, I'm no prodigy and I'm not as strong as her!" Riley winced at the sound of those words. The judge raised the red flag, and Alexis went dashing down the mats like a cheetah chasing its lunch.  
>"Well you need to put your head back on my dear, because these races are meant for you. Next month, when we head off to Belgium, the races are all flat and technical, and if you can't do the races here than I just might have to send you home. It's not the riding I don't like, it's your attitude that I hate."<br>Alexis slammed her feet onto the springboard, flipped through the air and then banged the palms of her hands onto the vault.  
>"Well maybe I'm just not built for this than. We all know you're doing this all for Riley, and we're just your excuse so you can get away with it,"<br>Alexis shot through the air like a cannon, and flipped twice through the air. But when Riley thought that Alexis was supposed to unfold herself so she can land, Alexis attempted to flip again.  
>"No Mara, you're wrong. You're angry and frustrated and you're taking your anger out on retarded things."<br>Tears streamed down Riley's face, and her vision blurred, but she could still see Alexis land flat on her back, and the commentators squeal.  
>"That is not good," said one of them.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Alexis stared at the ceiling. The room went silent, and all she could hear was Marty faintly yelling "Lex, Lex? Can you hear me?"

Alexis took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and sat up. Her back was killing her. Way more than usual.  
>"Lex? I said 'can you hear me?'" Alexis shook her head abruptly to wake herself up and stared at Marty.<br>"Yeah," she whispered.  
>"Come, get off the mats. It's over. It's over."<br>Tears filled Alexis's eyes as Marty carried her off the mats and onto the bench.

The next morning, the girls woke up to eat breakfast, but before they made it to the kitchen could smell a disaster.

Seth tried to cook.

Riley wanted to laugh because she was so nervous. Seth cooking was never a good thing. He was into nutrients, and not much into taste, so the best thing he could come up with was salty oatmeal with flax seeds, banana and whey protein. Now it smelled like he was trying to poison the girls.

"Good morning! Enjoy breakfast, because that's the only real food you get until after the race. After this you only get artificial stuff, so savor it." The three stared at each other, and when Nicole made one of her obnoxious remarks, Mara and Riley couldn't help but giggle.  
>"You call this real food? This is cat food, and trust me, my cat doesn't even touch the stuff."<p>

They sat down around the table and took a nibble at the puke in the bowl that Seth claimed was food. Even Paul seemed sympathetic.  
>"We're going to do anything possible for you girls to feel confident coming into this race, so I want you to have all the nutrients possible. Today's a time trial—short to the point, but we'll be able to test you for real."<p>

Evelyn Dawes took a deep breath before walking into the hotel. She knew that Alexis was disappointed, and knew that she would be the one having to deal with her weak psychological state for the next few days.  
>"Mom! Thank god you came! I was started to think I would have to walk home!" Alexis said cheerily as she approached Mrs. Dawes.<br>Evelyn stopped for a moment. Sure, second place was fantastic, but not in Alexis's world. Why was she so happy? Occasionally she would be crying after a _victory_, because she didn't win by enough points.  
>"Yeah, my phone died on the way. Come on, lets go. Riley's race is on TV in 45 minutes."<p>

The second the two were out of eyeshot or earshot of any of the coaches, Alexis burst into tears. "Mom, I can't believe it. I was in the lead. I—I was finally feeling good about myself, and then I had to fall and screw my back up even more than it already is." Evelyn should have known. Be strong for the team, and show true feelings in front of mom.  
>"Wait, your back was screwed up?" Evelyn gave a glare. She knew there were some issues she would have to put up with while having athletes for kids, but injuries were something she could not tolerate.<br>"Well, you know, I exaggerated. It was sore, and now I think I pulled something." Alexis lied. 

Riley stuck her earphones deep into her ears and proceeded to warm up. Her legs were feeling good, and she had to prove herself after yesterdays disappointing 17th place.  
><em>ok Riley, you've got this in the bag. It's gonna hurt, you'll probably want to die, but it will all be worth it when you win. <em>She spoke to herself. Her pre time-trial mantra. It was the only reason she was good at time trials. Her physique was too slight to be a pure "time-trialist", but her power was good enough, and her mental strength pulled her through.

Mara started her race 2 minutes ahead of Nicole, and once Nicole started, Riley unhooked her bike from the stationary machine and headed out to the start line. Normally, when cameras faced Riley, she headed the other direction, but Riley knew that her mom was watching at home, and she was feeling extra cocky. Riley felt the victory coming even before she started the race. She blew a kiss at the camera and said "HI MOM!".

"3…2…1…Allez!" the judge let go of Riley's wheel and she headed out, gaining some speed, and then settling into a steady pace.  
>Five minutes into the race, Seth said "Looking good Riley." That meant she was spectacular. Riley's chest was burning, Seth's so-called breakfast was sitting in her throat, her legs were working so hard they were numb, but Riley was riding a spectacular race.<br>"You're tied for first place at this pace, there's only 2 kilometers left, so make the pain worth it." Riley heard Seth yelling from the car, and speeded up. Spit was covering her chin and sweat was dripping from her like a faucet, but it was all worth it. 

"Oh My God! She won! She won! She did it, She won!" Evelyn jumped out of her seat and squealed. Riley's face was on the TV screen.  
>"Yeah, mom, these aren't her prettiest moments, I don't understand why they're filming her," Alexis was still in a sour mood, but couldn't contain her joy. Riley dropped her bike and collapsed onto the asphalt, and breathed heavily with her mouth wide open, not to mention the spit and mucus on her chin and skin suit.<br>"Riley Dawes, How it feeling to win such good race here in Italy?" Riley was bombarded with questions as soon as she got off her bike, even though she wasn't in the best state.  
>"Great. Thank you, see you tomorrow," Riley went back to her shy self and shoved her hand over the camera screen, got off the asphalt and into the team's van.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

Alexis made it to the gym just in time for Marty. A month had passed since her failure in the pacific rim and Marty hadn't really forgiven her for it.  
>"You're a smart girl Alexis," Marty frowned as he held her feet down as she did 180 degree sit-ups, "But you do stupid things. Stupid things, Alexis." Marty shook his head. Alexis had been hearing it for a month and she just wanted it to stop.<br>"Ok, Ok I get it! I made a mistake, and I'm an ignorant teenager who just wants to rebel against your system. But you need to hear me out already," She abruptly slapped Marty's wrists so he let go, fell backwards into the foam pit, dusted herself off and got out. Payson suddenly became quiet and turned around from the kiddy session she was leading by the bars.  
>"Ok, I'll listen. But once you say something stupid my attention toward you will just shut off." Alexis rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, which was still unsteady from the sit-ups.<br>"Up until the Pacific rim you guys have been holding me back because of all these injuries. It's been a crappy year, and the only attention I was getting was the weekly update on the NGO website about some new, made up issue I had." Alexis remembered the false eating disorder, the fake surgery she went through on her Achilles, the imaginary car crash she had been in and the forged drug tests that came back positive. "and I wanted to prove everyone wrong. Everyone thought that my career was over. Heck, I'm sure you thought it was, but I was so eager to prove them wrong, that I decided to do the triple twist." Marty opened his mouth to say something but Alexis just kept talking. "and if I had been in the right state of mind, I probably wouldn't have done it. If I had been training correctly the whole year, and competing on a regular basis, my body would have known—in midair—that I can't do another twist, and I would have improvised. It wasn't an issue of mastering the skill, since we both know that I can do the triple twist in my sleep, it was an issue of my feel for the sport." Alexis looked up. Marty had a slight grin on his face, but then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded.  
>"You're right, you lost it. But it's not hard to get it back. Just one week with the grade 9 girls and you'll have your usual killer instinct." She looked up, quite perplexed, but then jumped up and smiled with sheer happiness. "but it doesn't mean you miss out on your regular training. You'll come in the morning and stay in the afternoon for the grade 9's."<p>

In most cases, Alexis would see joining the little grade 9, snobby pipsqueaks as a punishment, but she knew that joining them would really help her gain what she had lost in the passed year.

"Oh, and this doesn't make you exempt from finishing your sit ups. You still have 57 more."

"Hey Jessica, it's Riley." The group had totally forgotten about Jessica's dramatic ending to her athletic career, but the whole flight to Belgium Riley kept on getting flashbacks of Jessica rolling across the finish line, 45 minutes after the main pack of girls, tears streaming down her face, her shirt torn, and her knees bloody from crashing. She was covered in mucky rain-water, and spit ran down her chin. She came to a halt, sat under the team tent and continued to cry as Seth tried to console her. It had been a hard race for the team, but Jessica had obviously had enough. She shivered and shook her head violently as Seth stroked her back and tried to convince her that she _was _good, and that everyone has bad days, especially when you're a dainty American in her first race in the rough and tough world of European cycling. Riley clearly remembered when Jessica got up, and threw her bike onto the road, and remembered waking up the next morning with no roommate.  
>"Yeah, I could tell. What's up?" Actually, Riley really had nothing to say. She could tell from Jessica's facebook that the only cycling she was doing was to the supermarket and back, that she had gained 15 pounds, but that she had started dancing hip hop for fun and made a lot of friends, and also started working in a clothing store in a mall.<br>"You know what, I don't know. I just had this urge to call you." Riley sighed. "uhh, I guess what's up with you?"  
>"Fine, you know, getting used to my new life and all. You'd never imagine but this whole 'normal teenage life' thing is pretty exhausting." Jessica giggled, "I mean, you know, not as tiring as coming home from a training ride and having to get into the shower, but it's definitely different." Riley didn't say anything, she just sort of breathed into the phone.<br>"Listen Rile's, I know that I did it in a more-than-needed dramatic way, but deep in my heart I never was meant to be a cyclist." Jessica tried to console Riley, because it was the real reason she called. "You know, I never really enjoyed it. Never. I know that 90 percent of the time you don't enjoy it either, and neither does Mara or Nicole, but even during those 10% when you guys were having fun, I still wasn't." Jessica paused to see if there was a reaction—but there was none. "And the last thing I can tell you is that if I really wanted it, I would have pushed through after that raced. I wouldn't have broken down in tears and thrown my bike. I would have eaten my protein bar, gotten a good night's sleep and headed out to the race the next morning with a clear head. You know, with Seth as your daily coach I'm sure you go through a lot more hell then I did, but you pushed through because this is something you really want for yourself. I just never really saw it in Idaho because when you win all the time it doesn't make a difference if you want it or not, you're just winning." Riley never knew that Jessica could be so thoughtful and articulate. They were real words of wisdom, so touching that for a good minute she stopped in her tracks.  
>"thanks Jessica. I hope to see you some day, maybe you could come over for a weekend or something." With that, Riley understood Jessica and shed a virtual tear over a loss of great talent, but smiled at the same time because Jessica had freed herself of the burden she held for such a long time.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

Hey Everyone! I just realized I made a mistake, and called Riley and Alexis' mom Evelyn in the 7th chapter even though her name is Jennifer…That's a huge mistake, since Evelyn is a character for later on, and NOT Alexis's and Riley's mom…Sorry about the confusion

Jennifer Dawes woke up to Alexis hovering over her head.

"Mom, we need to go. I can't be late to National team practice." Jennifer winced when Alexis turned the light on, but quickly recovered and pulled a sweater over her pajamas. Without much more interaction, the two locked up the house, hopped into the car and headed out to the Rock, to see cameramen and small crowds of people everywhere.  
>"Shit," Alexis said, and pulled her hoodie over her face, so maybe she could skip getting interviewed.<br>"Run for it sweetie, I'll see you inside."

It was like that at every national team practice. The top gymnasts came over from all over the country to one specific spot, and naturally, the press had to catch the nation's sweethearts for a quick interview. And of course, Alexis had quite a spotlight on her. She darted for the front door, but of course the second she walked in she was bombarded with more paparazzi.

"Alexis! Alexis! What do you have to say on your failure at the Pacific Rim?"  
>"Ms. Dawes! There have been rumors that you broke your back. Is this true?"<p>

Alexis walked right passed them and into the locker room. She changed into her warm up gear and rolled her eyes.  
>"Hey Lex, hope you fall today," Said one of the girls.<p>

One thing about gymnastics was that all the girls were bitches to one another. Gymnastics was a cut-throat world, and the girls that competed in the sport were taught to focus on themselves. It was hard not to have any friends besides from the Rock, even though Riley had friends from all over the country. Just with gymnastics, everything was so unpredictable. Most of the girls had the same degree of difficulty on their routines, and the only thing that separated them from being the winner or the loser was performance under pressure. No wiggles, no wobbles, no uncalled for flick of the wrist or shake of the head, no bent knees, no flat toes…Everything was marked on perfection. On beauty.

"I hope you do too." Lex replied, and walked out of the locker room and onto the mats. All she had to do was to make a good impression on the coaches and council, and she would be off to Australia for a meet.

Riley woke up in the morning, her head still buzzing from the victory yesterday. She was expected to do something huge today, except the course was short and fast, and quite frankly not suited to her abilities. Riley liked to say that the longer and harder the race, the best she was. She was slim and short, which made up a good climber, but today's race would end up in a sprint. The plan was, of course, to lead Nicole out to win the sprint. Nicole was the aggressive one. Although Riley wasn't a big fan, she could admit that Nicole was not afraid to bang up against other riders at 70KPH, and that's what made her a good sprinter.

As the girls disassembled their bikes to fit in the car, Seth went through the drills.  
>"OK, it shouldn't be an issue for you all to keep up with the pace. The race shouldn't be longer than an hour, but there are sharp turns, so watch out for crashes. Other than that, there is no reason you should finish behind the pack." He started out with a quick reminder that they were strong enough to hold on.<br>"When the race organizer rings the bell for the last 2 laps, you girls should find each-other and start moving your way up to the front of the peloton. Mara, you will then go into complete suicide mode, and just ride as fast as you can for a lap and a bit. Riley, once Mara drops, you keep up that pace until around 500 meters to the finish, where the whole bunch will be going wild. Nicole, find someone's wheel, and sit on it until you feel ready to go all out." That was the plan, easy as pie.

Riley was calm until there were 3 laps left to the race. She couldn't find Nicole.

"Mara," She said in between heavy breathing, and bumping shoulders with a German girl, "Where's Nicole?"  
>"She got a flat tire, and she wasn't allowed to hold onto the judges car to get back to the pack, so she's dropped."<br>"Ok, so I guess the win will go to someone else today." Riley tried to change the outcome, but she knew that now the pressure was on her. She was second in line to win the sprint finish, so they'd just have to try their best, and see what happened.

Riley was afraid, because she knew that if she planned to win the race, and she didn't, she would kill herself over it for a week. She knew it would be easy just to cruise through with the pack, not risking a crash or anything, and still keep her lead in the tour, but she also knew that Seth expected more of her.

She started panicking.  
>"Hey, Riley, keep it together. You've got this. Let's win this thing." Mara was right. Riley had to try, at least so she could say she tried. Riley followed Mara as she pushed through the riders and made way for Riley to pass through. Mara got to the front and pushed the pace on high enough so that no other rider could try and escape. It was also fast enough that at least half the girls that lingered for most of the race ended up losing the pack, leaving them with a core of strong girls.<br>When they heard the last lap bell, Riley could tell that Mara was tired.  
>"Come on Mara, just a little bit left. Come on, Come on" She whispered to her, and she struggled to keep up. "Mara, these girls hate you right now for making them suffer." That got Mara excited because she kept it up until exactly 100 meters to go, when a girl came from behind in a massive jump. She was wearing pink and blue.<p>

_Follow the pink and blue, _Riley told herself in a stressed out manner, _follow it! Follow it!_

She got onto the pink and blue wheel, oblivious to the fact that there were 50 riders trying to push their way to the finish line as well.

_20 meters to go, last push! _Riley put her head down and pushed hard. Her legs were burning and her lungs were hurting, and she was neck and neck with the pink and blue girl. When they were one foot from the finish line, they both gave an extra push across the line.

Riley shot her arms in the air like a cannon and let out a huge "YES!"

The girl in the pink and blue that was beside her dropped her head and frowned.

It was victory number two for Riley, and the world was beginning to learn about her.


	10. Chapter 10

It was the last day of national team training week, and Alexis was starting to die down. Between training 9 hours a day, watching Riley's racing for 3 hours a day and still fit in everything else, she was practically a zombie. The only thing that was keeping her alive was caffeine, and the national coach's whistle.  
>The 15 national team members were still asleep on the mats when Alexis awoke to watch Riley's last day of racing in Italy. By the afternoon she'd be back in Colorado. Alexis tip-toed her way into the coaches room and turned the television on mute. Just in time, Mara, Nicole and Riley were getting interviewed during their warm up. The three were in sport bra's and cycling shorts, under a tent but still sweating like mad-women, and were trying to understand the English that was hardened by a thick Italian accent.<br>"Thank you girls, we will see you during the race." Alexis had missed the interview, but not the race. According to the map, the race was a 70 kilometer race with lots of climbs, and it was hot outside. The girls on the starting line looked pretty serious, and it also looked as if they were after Riley—which they were.

Riley crossed the finish line, tears streaming down her face. She was somewhere between 40th and 60th place, and had lost her overall lead in the race. She lost 2nd and third place as well. She had barely made it in the top ten—finishing tenth overall. What had happened in the race was just a huge blur to her. Her emotions took over her and she couldn't think straight. What had happened? What had gone wrong? She just cried, instead of trying to remember or understand. Instead, she rolled her bike over to the team tent, threw her bike in the corner and sat into the plastic chair, and continued to cry. Mara was already there. She had finished 9th place in the race—a huge success for her. Seth was congratulating Mara, but _did _have a few words for Riley.

"What do you think happened?" he said curtly.

"I—I don't know…" Riley continued to cry.

"Well, how about I explain a thing or two about biking to you. You were in the lead. There are another 150 girls here that want to be in the lead too! It's the last day of the race, and the perfect race to get you knocked out of the top position. So, whenever someone got the chance, they bumped into you, they made you work harder than the others, and they yelled at you. In other words, they ganged up on you. And instead of keeping it cool and playing the game, you missed the winning move because you were pushed into the back of the group, and before you knew it you found yourself staring at the peloton from behind, not able to catch them, and eventually losing to 49 girls who you've been beating all week long."

Riley remembered now.

"Quit the crying Riley. You aren't 10 years old anymore and you aren't in the USA anymore. The game is played rough in Europe, and you weren't up for it. You won the lottery but you missed the jackpot." Seth sighed before he turned back to Mara, who was dry heaving into a bucket. It was over 100 degrees outside and the race course wasn't designed for drinking while riding. "Oh, but it was a good lesson," Seth said sarcastically.

Riley wiped her eyes and pulled herself over to Mara, and rubbed her back as she puked air.  
>"Seth, I think we should get her an IV drip, she's severely dehydrated." Paul fumbled with some electrolyte juices and handed one to Riley and to Nicole who had just finished. Mara wasn't even capable of taking a sip.<br>"And miss our flight? I don't think so. Force her to drink, give her two Advil, and let's get out of here." Seth rolled his wheelchair to the van and started loading everything he was capable of loading, in a clearly distressed manner.

Alexis couldn't take the National team practice anymore. Too many bitchy girls in one gym. During lunch break she snuck out to Groovy Smoothie instead of eating the stupid steamed vegetables that the NGO brought over.

"Payson, where are you? Can't you come to the gym just for a few hours? I need you."

Payson was lying on her bed like a log, and couldn't be moved. The pain in her back was paralyzing her to the point where she couldn't lift a finger. It had been like that since the beginning of the week, when she lied to Alexis and told her she was going to visit Emily and her kids for the week. She didn't want Alexis to know what was going on. It would upset her and ruin her mental game.

"Umm, I'm actually at home right now. I just got back," she said through winces.

"So can you come? Please. It's only 2 hours of technique training."

"Uh, yeah," Payson killed herself for saying yes, but couldn't bear to say no either. "Let me just unpack my things and I'll be over."

Payson hung up, and tried to contemplate how she'd get out of bed. She dialed her mom, who was in the kitchen.

"Pay? Can't you yell through the house? You know the phone bill's high." Kim rested the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she removed cookies from the baking sheet. They were for the Rock parent's meeting tomorrow night.

"Mom, I need your help. Please just come here." Kim Keeler dropped the phone and ran to her daughter's bedroom.

Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Please review and give me tips


	11. Chapter 11

Payson rolled into the gym. She felt the swarm of reporters come over to her and used the power of her wheelchair to push right through them and head towards the locker room, where Alexis was supposedly "dressing her wounds". Payson used her handy dandy rock keys to lock the entrance to the locker room and headed towards Lex's corner. I was a bathroom stall minus the toilet which Lex used to get into her "mental state" before competitions. She had lined the walls with inspirational quotes, but for the past week it was used as her hideout.

Alexis had been a competitive girl since birth, but something about national team practice aggravated her deeply. Maybe it was the press constantly buzzing around and making up false things to put in the paper. Maybe it was how there were clicks of teenage girls, and she never really was in the clicks, which made her seem snobby. Maybe it was the fact that she was performing for a screwed up corporation.

"What's going on?" Payson sighed when she saw Alexis, curled up in the corner, wearing a pissed-off face.

"The stupid girls. I can't deal with it. Christa Parker and her goddamn perfume line, Grace-Anne and her stupid insults. I just want them out of my gym!"

Christa Parker was the second prodigy Sheila Baboyen was trying to make into an American Sweetheart money making machine. And it was working. After Kelly Parker quit gymnastics, Christa Parker, who always was sort of a vanilla gymnast, not exactly great and definitely not in the spotlight of the sport, suddenly became, well, the next Kelly Parker. And of course, being the next Kelly Parker involved being a major bitch.

"Is that what's bothering you? You can't be serious. Listen, I went through plenty years of the mean Kelly…She was taught to psych out the competition, and that's what she did. I'm pretty sure Christa is getting the same education, and you're letting her win this battle."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

"And, on a further note, you need to kick butt today, because you sort of flopped at the Pacific Rim, and you need to make up for it. So I don't care if she's a tic, you'd better be on the flight next week."

Payson got a little annoyed that she had to come out to Alexis with her petty issues. Her back was up in flames, and even the morphine Kim had injected wasn't working. She was really not in the mood to get interviewed by the NGO pests, yet she was in the gym, convincing a 13 year old girl to get out of a bathroom stall and to just do some gymnastics.

When Alexis saw that Payson was being serious, she got up and ran to the mats without an issue, and Payson rolled herself out, furiously, and straight into the coaches office.

The flight back home had been horrible, and Riley was happy to feel the cool Colorado weather. Maras was severely dehydrated, and was throwing up and dry heaving the whole flight, which kept the flight attendants at their seat for the whole 8 hours. Not to mention that when Mara passed out Seth finally agreed to an IV, this made the whole plane start freaking out. And, Seth was lecturing Riley the whole time, even when she was trying to help Mara.

"Well, back home, aren't we?" Nicole said as she rushed to her transfer flight to JFK. There was no thank you to Seth, not even a fake goodbye hug. Which was understandable, even if she wasn't a bitch. No one was in a good mood.

Mara was still weak, so Riley supported her at the shoulders when they exited the terminal. Everyone needed their space after a while together, so it was good when Mara's mom came to take her home. Seth and Riley waited silently for their mom to come.

Seth's phone buzzed, and when he looked at it he quickly rolled to the men's bathroom.

"Hey sweetheart, what's going on?" he said, in a hushed toned.

Payson Keeler shed some tears onto the office phone.

"Ugh, Seth, I can't deal with this anymore. I need to see you. How can I see you today?" She said, and she didn't even care if she sounded desperate.

"Tonight Pay, tonight. I'll see you at your house at 8. Keep it together."


	12. Chapter 12

Payson impatiently waited on the patio with her laptop on her lap. She was waiting for the national team practice conclusion to load, as well as she was waiting for Seth to roll up the ramp.

The National team practice conclusion would consist of the 5 girls competing in Tokyo in the following week, and the 3 girls that would be cut from the national team. Payson wasn't worried about Alexis getting cut or flying to Tokyo, yet she was worried about the image of the Rock. Since she, Kaylie and Lauren had retired the club had few stars, and a lot of girls that were "fillers". Although Alexis was the ultimate star, it was all they had, and Payson was pretty sure that Alexis would be the only representative from the rock on the national team.

"Hey there good lookin', watcha up to?" Seth surprised Payson as she tried clicking the link a few more times so it would load faster.

Seth took the computer from Payson and tried kissing her on the lips, but only made it to her cheeks since they were both in wheelchairs.

"hey, get on my lap, your cheek isn't enough," Seth joked.

"I can't," Payson said in her usual stoic voice. "Here, just let me check the results."

Payson clutched Seth's hand as he scrolled through the formalities (messages from different National team sponsors) and then read the results. As expected, Bethany and Alina were cut from the team, and Alexis would be in top spot for Tokyo the following week. Not only that, Payson was selected to be an assistant coach on the trip.

"that's great Pay," seth said in his cool voice. It was funny to think that he had a cool voice, because he was a tough coach, but Payson liked to call it "tough love". He loved Riley and really believed that she could make it as far as she wanted, and wasn't going to let bad coaching get in the way. Payson was always there for Riley when she needed to be ensured that Seth was doing the right thing, but Payson really admired Seth for his loyalty.

"Yeah," Payson looked into Seth's eyes. "I need to do something about the Rock. It's falling apart. Your sister is the only thing keeping it together right now, but I want the rock to have it's glory days." Payson winced as she changed her position slightly in the wheelchair. Seth stroked her hair. "Marty's barely around now that he moved to Denver with Kaylie's mom, and I'm not the one to promote transfers."

Seth and Payson sat on the patio for quite a while, thinking of ideas, Sharing their experiences from each side of the world, and then later retreating to the Keeler's living room to eat Kim's famous cookies.

It was when Seth's phone beeped, regarding an email, at 12:30AM, when the two of them were intrigued. It was either spam, or something really important. They both assumed it to be Spam, but when Seth opened it his facial expression changed.

"The new Belgian development team invited Riley to race for them. They want her to fly in next week, and tour Europe with them for a few weeks. They are bringing in all the top riders from all over the world, but they also want me to recommend another rider for their empty slots."

Seth put his head between his hands. The program would open Riley up to a whole other world. She would be treated like a professional, she would race in prestigious races—no charge, she would have great gear and a ton of attention from the press. That wasn't the issue. It was what Seth wanted for Riley. He just knew he had to recommend Mara and not Nicole, and he knew that Nicole's parents would not be happy when they heard that Mara and Riley were part of a prestigious development team, and Nicole was in New York state.

"Well, you'll just have to get over with it. Nicole didn't show much promise in Europe, and you'll still push for her to go to Worlds, but this is an opportunity that she can't have." Seth didn't even have to explain his trouble for Payson to give a strong reassurance.

Riley woke up the following morning, still a little jetlagged, but ready to go out for a light spin, and then stop off at Mara's house on her way home to see how she was feeling. Seth was already awake, in front of an open fridge.

"Seth, I'll do an hour and a half around town, and I'm gonna stop off at Mara's to see how she's feeling."

Seth fingered the water bottles in the fridge and though for a moment.

"Great! Ok, see you later. Also don't eat during the ride today. You need to lose 2 pounds. It should only take you a few days to lose, but you really don't need the food for an easy spin."

Riley nodded and walked out the door, oblivious to the fact that her life was going to change within the next few hours.

Seth only had to tell their mom of the situation, and then he would meet Riley at mara's house and share the news.

"Seth, what are you doing in front of the fridge? And why are you awake so early? You came home at 2."

"Mom, listen, I got an email from a new development team based in Belgium. They're impressed by Riley, and want her to ride for them, but also join them for a few weeks in Europe to meet the squad and race in a few races."

Jenifer just looked at Seth. She sometimes worried that he worked so hard for someone else. It was as if since he got hit by the car he was living vicariously through Riley.

"Seth, I don't have an issue with it, especially if this means that once she comes back to the US you don't have to worry about sponsors or anything. But I'm worried about Riley. She was coughing all night. According to Alexis she was coughing in Europe but was hiding it from you. That's a long time to be coughing like that. She almost coughed a lung up. I know that you know when to tell her it's enough, but I'm worried that the Belgian coaches won't, because she surely doesn't know when to stop." Jennifer let out her fears but knew it wasn't stopping Seth from sending riley to Europe for a few weeks. It actually gave him a motive—to teach her a lesson. She'd finally realize it on her own, and she would know when to give her body a rest.

"Ok mom, she's going. I think she'll be good."

Riley headed to the other side of town, pedaling fast but maintaining a comfortable pace. Her lungs felt gross, still gooey from when she was sick in Belgium. She had been coughing all night, and was glad she didn't have to do a hard ride.

The hour and a half was over before she knew it and she headed over to Mara's house. She was excited to be able to see her—and actually talk to her. Although they were on top of each other in Europe, they weren't very talkative because of the constant tension. Racing was very psychological and the two of them preferred to stay in their zones. Mara was hooked up to an IV drip for a while, since she had dehydrated, and was told to stay in bed for 24 hours before she got back on her bike. Mara's dad had obviously taken that very literally because he lead Riley up to her bedroom, and then put her bike in their hallway, since she wouldn't be there for long.

To her surprise, Seth was sitting in there, and Mara's dad followed Riley into the room shortly after.

"umm, hi?" Riley said, trying to figure out the scenario. It would be unlikely that Seth came to visit Mara because of her condition because she was merely dehydrated, unless her parents had complained that Seth had been "irresponsible", which was unlikely. They were very cool about everything—the sort of California Hippie type, just in Colorado.

"Hey, sit down. I have some things to tell you." Seth pointed to a chair, and Mara's dad sat down next to his wife.

"As I mentioned to you guys before, I received an email from a development team in Belgium, and they recruited Riley as a teammate." Riley nervously looked at Mara. Would this mean that after 6 years on the same team they would be separated? Riley wanted everything for her career, but couldn't bear to imagine racing on separate teams.

"They also asked me to suggest a rider, and without hesitation I suggested that Mara should be on the team. Even though Mara didn't showcase her potential in Europe I truly believe that she is a world class athlete and is deserving of the spot. I also think that with the professional set-up the team provides for its riders she'll be able to bring great results in Holland."

Mara's dad, Greg, patted her head.  
>"That's wonderful Seth, we really appreciate it. But what does this mean? I mean, for Mara of course." Seth nodded, and looked at Riley, who was obviously still in shock from the split second where she thought she was losing a teammate.<p>

"First of all, the team replied and accepted Mara, but she is a conditional rider, meaning she has to perform really well if she wants that spot. There are 5 girls fighting over 2 spots, and Mara will be one of them for a few weeks. Not only will she have to race well, she'll also have to show a professional attitude. The girls will fly to Belgium next Wednesday, where they will get picked up by the team manager, who will take them to drop off their bags at the apartment. Then, they will get fitted on their new bikes, get team clothing, and will probably have to answer a few questions for the sponsors websites. By that evening, the whole team will have arrived, they'll meet each other, and the next morning they will go on a long training ride together." Mara's mom, Honey, stopped Seth.

"A new bike and new clothes? Isn't that expensive? How much is this going to cost us? You know we just spent a fortune on Belgium."

"Honey, I'll get to that." Seth resumed his explanation. "then, they will race in some races around Belgium, and maybe some in Italy, Germany and Holland, depending on the race plan. Afterward they'll go back home, and will race in the US, representing the development team. Occasionally they will get summoned to represent the team in international competition, and there will be a lot team training camps, and a lot of press coverage."

Seth looked at Honey, signaling that he hadn't forgotten her question.

"this team is fully sponsored. The girls won't have to pay for anything. Not even the flights, not even race participation here in the US. The bikes are team bikes, and the girls _have to _ride on them. This does mean that they will lose their amateur status, meaning they cannot receive scholarships to universities. But the girls will really go far with this team."

Seth smiled and said: "So, what do you think girls?"

Riley's mind was filled with crazy thoughts. It was what she had dreamed of, and never expected to get it so soon. It was normally only after the age 18 when cyclists could ride with such a professional team, and she was getting it at the age of 16. She would race in real races, and she would get stronger, and maybe she could, one day, become the world champion she had always dreamed of being.

But Mara had other thoughts.

"Wait, but Seth, will you still be coaching us?"

Riley had never thought of that. But it was a good point.

"Teams like this have what is called a director. The director decides who's going to win what race, and he calls all the shots—sort of like a football coach. When you are participating in races along with the whole development squad, he'll be the boss, but when you race here, I'm the director. I'll still write your training plans and I'll still take you girls on training rides when you are around, but I just won't be the one deciding how you'll race the important races."

The girls both knew exactly what they were going to do, and before they knew it, were on a flight to Belgium with nothing but a small luggage with some clothes, books, iPods, money, and their old team clothing for when the goings got tough.


	13. Chapter 13

The flight to Tokyo was long, and it was no good for Alexis's legs, back, or anything for the matter. She had one day to get over her jetlag before the competitions started, but the national committee was wasting it to do mental strengthening.

Alexis wished that the bus ride to the hotel would be quiet—at least, but it wasn't. Besides the blasting Japanese music that sounded like a bunch of dying hyenas with a drumbeat in the background, the bus driver had a need to talk non-stop, in a language that was a cross between English and Japanese. Christa and Grace-Anne were comparing their personal fragrance lines, and Aliya was looking out the window. Nina was sitting next to Alexis and was trying to focus on her geometry homework. When they finally reached the hotel and passed through the swarm of cameras and people, they all gathered in the bedroom to do yoga and visualization. It was supposed to improve their performance. Alexis was skeptical. She knew that all that could help them would be a light meal, a good massage and a good night's sleep. She didn't really have any friends on the national team, and all she really wanted to do was to compete, win, and then go home.

That was when she felt a buzz in her pocket. It was her phone which had caught the Wi-Fi signals in the hotel and was receiving the texts she got through the instant messaging program.

_Good luck__You'll rock it. I'm watching you on TV, and you owe me a date when you get back._

It was Neil. Alexis was happy everyone was meditating with their eyes shut because she flushed to a deep shade of purple. She texted back.

_Sure, thanks! See ya._

She tried to play it cool, which was easy to do by text, and smiled a bit.

Riley and Mara landed in Brussels in the late afternoon, and made it to a small apartment on the border of Holland and Belgium by bedtime. They couldn't go to sleep though, because they had to meet the team. There were 14 other girls, mostly from Europe but two girls from Australia too. The team director, Anna, a business woman type in her early 30's with blonde hair and penetrating hazel eyes, explained that the goal was to have a team of 10 by the end of the 2 week period. She also explained that everything would be very different: The next morning they would go out on a long training ride together for bonding, but from then on it would be all racing. They would be expected to work by team tactics, and to be good role models and spokespersons for the sport and as human beings. They would also be expected to win—even when they were racing without the whole team, and to make it onto world championship teams and such. In return though, they would get the highest quality of care: there bikes would be fixed for them, they would get massages before and after races, there bottles would be filled for them in the mornings and they could get almost anything with a simple request. Riley sort of just watched everything happen as if she was watching her life happen from the outside. She was still in a state of shock. Mara was trembling. She knew that her spot on the team wasn't a permanent one.

After playing a quick game of cards with everyone to lighten the tension, the rest of the girls headed off to bed and the duo were left on the couch with Anna.

"I was very impressed with you when I saw you," She started out, "I can tell you really want this." Anna was speaking directly towards Riley, which made her feel uncomfortable. Mara was next to her, and needed to be complimented.

"Of course," Anna continued, "I knew I couldn't go wrong with another girl getting coached by Seth Dawes, and I was right. I had to look online for some footage of you, but you show a lot of promise." She said, and Riley felt Mara's relief.

"Riley, your spot on the team was given to you, which means tomorrow you can ride in the back and relax your legs for the races this week. On the other hand, you—" she said as she pointed her head at Mara "—need to be on your best behavior for the next few weeks. I only have room for 10 girls on the team, and I think that supporting female American riders is important, and I think that you deserve a spot on the team, you just need to prove it to me and the rest of the staff." Anna smiled at the two quickly before she excused herself, and then Mara and Riley headed off to bed as well.


End file.
